TAKE your tastebuds on a tour of Australia as we find out which state boasts the country's best restaurant and bar.

ORDER a cocktail at this bar and you may be whisked away, blindfolded and fitted with headphones as scented mists are sprayed in your face.

ISLAND life is easy on Heron Island where the birds are chirpy and the turtles take it slow, writes Tamara Mclean after a helicopter ride in.

A GENTLE riverboat cruise along the Swan River with a shiraz in your hand and you'll be in tastebud heaven, says Sally Macmillan.

IT doesn't matter which direction you drive in Victoria, you'll always hit a great course. Garry Kennedy swings into some of the best golf greens.

NEWS.com.au travel reporter and ski novice Lee Taylor reaches new heights during the mountain to mountain challenge through Perisher Valley.

IT'S mankind versus the gods, as Jenny Stevens discovers Turkey's ancient city of Troy is no sword-and-sandle adventure.

FROM private plunge pools to luxurious ensuites ? Susan Kurosawa reveals where to find a tent with five-star frills.

IT doesn't matter which direction you drive in Victoria, you'll always hit a great course. Garry Kennedy swings into some of the best golf greens.

A GENTLE riverboat cruise along the Swan River with a shiraz in your hand and you'll be in tastebud heaven, says Sally Macmillan.

FROM baby butlers to endangered sea turtles ? find out how the other half holiday in style with the world's most decadent hotel amenities.

JAPAN'S Shikoku is a place of serenity and beauty, except when you're hurtling down a rapid on the mighty Yoshino River, writes Dylan Coker.

IT'S a long way from coffee-mad Istanbul and you won't find a Turkish bath here, but it's surprising what you'll learn trailing through the "coffee capital of Australia".

GLITZY mansions and drug-riddled shanty towns co-exist in Rio, writes Patrick O'Neil after a walking tour of Brazil's largest 'favela' slum.

AFTER a hard day of wine touring, there's nothing like a cleansing ale writes Ed Charles, as he quenches his beer thirst in the country's famous grape regions.

FROM topless showgirls and bar-hopping in Vegas, to rubbing shoulders with the stars in La-La Land ? saddle up for the ultimate guide to the US and A.